“YOU CAN’T BE DISCONNECTED AND HAPPY” – THE SECRET THINGS OF GOD – Unlocking the Treasures Reserved for You by Dr. Henry Cloud

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

I offer today a quote from Dr. Cloud’s book called “The Secret Things of God“. “… one of the most important secrets of God: we are not meant to be alone.” This is a quote from the Chapter entitled “There Is No Such Thing as Disconnected and Happy.” Dr. Cloud points out that we were created to live in relationship with others and life doesn’t work unless we do just that. He goes on to say that “We live in a relational universe. To survive, and to prosper, we have to be connected to other.”

As an introvert, this chapter was very challenging for me. I have close relationships with my husband, children and grandchildren; however, I have not done well in developing deep connections outside of family. I have come to see the importance in opening myself up to others who will be reliable, truthful and supportive friends in my life journey. Science proves that our degree of happiness depends on the level with which we let others in.

Being vulnerable and open with trusted friends is a gift. Knowing that you have a support group to have fun with, to be “real” with, and to keep you accountable adds value to your life and lets you know you are not alone.

Do you have deep connections with others? Do you want deep connections with others? I hope that you do and that you find “your people”. It is a recipe for happiness when you find them. Click here if you are interested in purchasing a copy of Dr. Cloud’s book.

Happy Reading!

CABIN TRIP AFTER COVID19

It finally happened ….. Robby and I were able to travel to our cabin for the first time in two months. The whole COVID19 thing put a halt to visiting our “happy place”! The last time we visited the trees were still bare and you could see all the way over to the next mountain ridge. As you can see in the pic above, the trees are loaded with leaves and the land is lush.

One of the good things that happened is that during the “stay at home” confinement, we had some extensive work done on the outside of our cabin. It has been sealed and restained along with some extra carpentry work around the windows. While I am not including pics, it does look outstanding!!!!

Once we arrived, my soul felt so peaceful and happy. The mountains simply speak to my core and being here was good for my soul. Since it had been a while since our last visit, we did have some cleaning and chores to take care of, which we did with a smile.

Although many things are still not open or back to “normal”, we were able to visit a “preview opening” of a second location of one of our favorite microbreweries. Here we are enjoying “Bear Waters Brewing – Maggie Valley”. The new place is awesome and we love the location on Jonathon’s Creek, not to mention it is very close to our cabin. It should be no surprise that this will be a regular stop for us! This was also the first time that I had eaten (outside) at an establishment in months! It felt so good to be out and around people (socially distanced) of course. This was definitely a mental boost for both of us.

One of my favorite things to do is relax on our upper deck. Lunch with a view never gets old. I also love our “deck chats”! This is the place where we “solve” (LOL) all the world’s problems, big and small!

No trip would be complete without getting to watch a storm roll in. Yes, I am one of those people that love to watch a storm. It is so soothing to hear the rain falling through the leaves and feel the wind moving and whistling through the trees. It was a perfect ending to our trip.

Never underestimate how much good a change of perspective and perhaps scenery will do for the mind and soul! Already looking forward to our next trip.

GARAGE DOOR GEL STAIN PROJECT

I am so excited to reveal this project. My husband gets all the credit as he did all the labor. He believed in my idea and “made it happen”. Our house has an L shaped front entrance with the front door/porch and garage all facing the driveway. We are blessed with a 3 car garage, but with the doors being white, it’s kind of all you see when you look at our house. The front door and porch get lost with all the white doors. This has bothered me for a long time and replacing the doors would be expensive and just not practical.

I did some research and found that many folks were transforming their white garage doors to look like wood by using a gel stain. I spent a few hours on Pinterest and Youtube looking at all the “how to’s” and came up with a plan. Fortunately, my husband thought it was a great idea and willing to give it a try. The good thing about gel stain, is that if it looks awful, you can just paint over it.

We hoped this would be a one weekend project, but with three doors it took two weekends to complete. Also, you must have good weather with no rain. Here is a pic of the project in progress.

I choose a gel stain colored “hickory”. As you can see, with one coat, too much of the white was showing through. We decided that two coats would be necessary but we loved how things were looking.

I had to purchase a few more cans of stain, but Robby finally got two coats completed and we love the transformation. So far everyone in the neighborhood has given us positive feedback. Now, the darker garage doors disappear and you actually see the front entrance. Pics of the front entrance will be coming soon. We plan to use the same gel stain on the front door to give all the doors that wood look color.

Thanks to my husband who will do just about anything I ask!!! Planning on keeping him busy!!!!!

ANOTHER LOCKDOWN DIY CHEST REDO

Well, I have been at again…..another project to keep me busy during COVID19 “lockdown”. I had another piece of furniture that was inherited from Robby’s grandmother that had incurred some damage and needed a “makeover”. This is a larger piece than my previous project, but I had a vision, a plan, and time to do it!

The piece is a four drawer chest with damage to the front of the second drawer. I decided not to worry too much about the damage and to proceed with painting it with a silver metallic chalk paint and then finishing with a black chalk wax.

Lightly sanded before pic

I decided to work on the piece in place. Cardboard was used to protect the floors. I removed the drawers and began working on the top and body of the chest. I do not have a lot of experience with chalk paint, however, the silver metallic chalk paint was thin in coverage and a little more difficult to work with. I saw pretty quickly that it was going to take two coats to achieve the coverage I desired.

This is pic with two coats applied.

Once I achieved the coverage I wanted with the silver and waiting a full 24 hours to dry, I began applying the black chalk wax. The metallic sheen really played tricks on my eyes, but eventually I achieved the look I wanted. I am so pleased with how this piece turned out. I already have another project in mind where I can use the silver chalk paint again.

Applying black chalk wax

Finally, here is the finished product with drawer pulls spray painted “chrome”. Happy painting everyone!!!