I know I’ve been a little silent lately, I am hosting a crafting small group through my church which means all my extra “craft time” has been focused on it! I wanted to wish you all a blessed and safe 4th of July and hopefully I’ll be back with some great posts and projects to share soon!
When I was in college one of my roommate’s families treated me like part of the family and let me work at their family jewelry store and invited me to their family events. I remember the owner of the jewelry store making the comment to me that you always wanted to go shopping with the grandmother because she is a tither and believer and the Lord always blesses her with the best deals. I didn’t think much about it at that moment but that really stuck with me. I am a firm believer that the Lord blesses us in many different ways. One of the ways I definitely feel that he blesses us is in the form of thrifty finds. I know this may sound a little far fetched but I can’t even tell you the number of times my husband and I have talked about purchasing an item and within the following week or two, I stumble upon the EXACT item at the thrift store for a fraction of the price we were prepared to pay.
Here are a few examples:
Wreath Hanger – $20 on Amazon – I had these two wreath hangers on my Amazon Wishlist for around 6 months and was about to order it that week and stumbled upon this one at the thrift store for $3. The people working there didn’t even know what it was, but I did! I knew that with some spray paint, it would work perfect and save me $17!
Mail Organizer – My husband and I rarely argue but one thing I hate is mail lying on the counter and one thing he hates is when I shove it in a junk drawer. We decided the best solution was to get a mail organizer to solve this common problem. Literally, the next week I found a wooden wall organizer at the thrift store for $2! I painted it and found some tag hardware at Hobby Lobby and my total cost was $4.
White Pitcher – I recently went with a friend to a large neighborhood garage sale and told her that I was looking for a large white ceramic pitcher to use for flowers. I had no luck at the garage sale but two weeks later stumbled upon exactly what I was hoping to find at the thrift store.
These are just a few examples of the MANY thrifty finds that happen to be exactly what I was looking for and if you ever thrift, you know how rare that is! I don’t know if there is scriptural evidence that the Lord blesses us this way but I choose to believe that it’s one of the many ways the Lord blesses me and my family.
I want to share something that has just been heavy on my heart lately to share. Obviously I love our new house and find a lot of joy in buying and creating things to fill that house (I have a blog and Instagram account dedicated to that alone). I was tagged on Instagram recently to share my favorite thing about my house which made me stop and think, I love lots of things, I love the kitchen, I love the fireplace, I love the 4 car garage, I love that we built it and dreamed of how we would use each room and prayed in each room that the Lord would use each room to glorify him, but most of all… I love who I share it with. Our house is just a shelter, a shelter that we have dreamed about, but my home is who I share it with. It’s just like how the bible talks about the church as the congregation, not the structural building. At the end of the day, my favorite thing about my house is my husband and two fur-babies.
(Photo by Jessica McCravy Studios)
I was driving to my mom’s on Saturday and saw lots of smoke, I figured it was just someone burning tree limbs or something but the closer and closer I got to her house, the closer the smoke got. I started to panic. When I got to her neighborhood, this is what I saw two streets over from my mom’s house.
(This picture was taken while standing in my Mom’s backyard)
I have seen fires in movies and on TV but never a fire like this is person. This fire was LARGE and aggressive and the fire hoses weren’t doing anything to contain it until it was too late. The second story was completely gone in a matter of 15-20 minutes. My heart was broken for this family whom I don’t know but all I could think about was that I hope and pray they were all safe. It really made me stop and think that it could all be taken from me in an instant, they lost EVERYTHING in that house in about an hour…it only took ONE HOUR. We spend years and years filling homes and all it took was an hour. It turns out the family was out of town and had their pets with them, THANK YOU JESUS!! As much as we love and invest in our houses, they are earthly things and they can all be taken away from us and can be replaced, and what really matters is that they were all safe.
We sang the song “Let it be Jesus” at church on Sunday and in it it says, “ Should I ever be surrounded by the fire and the flame, There’s a name I will remember, There’s a name I will proclaim, Let it be, Let it be Jesus.”
The fire and the flame can be a metaphor for a lot of situations but in this case, it struck me very literally. I am writing this blog as a reminder for myself because witnessing this fire was a huge eye opener, but I am also hoping that this might encourage just one other person who may be in a similar place that I am. This is for any of you that feels like their house isn’t good enough, or may have lost their home, or maybe puts all their time and resources into their home and finds yourself neglecting other important things, I hope you find this encouraging. Unfortunately tornados happen, fires happen, bankruptcy happens, so make sure to first of all invest in your marriages and families because that’s what makes a home, not a fancy house full of furniture and decorations. I am guilty of putting more time and effort into our house at times than into my marriage, and I have to consciously make an effort to keep my priorities in line.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Valentines Day is only about a week away and I’ve already been thinking about things I would really like to get. We usually don’t do a lot for Valentines but we always go on a date and give each other a small gift. Here is this years wishlist that I’ve already given my husband! Do you guys have a Valentines Wish List? If so, what’s on it?
I can’t show you the Hamby Home for Christmas without showing off our two fur-babies too! As you can tell, I took every opportunity to capture these two boys in our new house this Christmas. It doesn’t get much better than my babies and Christmas (my favorite holiday). Riley and Mason hope you all had a blessed Christmas!
The Hamby Home 