~THOUGHTS ON A SUNDAY MORNING - Just A Shepherd Boy~

Many years ago, back when our two children were young, my Mr. AGP Man was a worship leader at a local church of our denomination at the time.  Back then such leaders were called 'Ministers of Music'.  But as we know things have changed.

My hubby has a beautiful baritone voice and it's one of the things that first attracted me to him when we were struggling college students back in the day.  After we were married and our first child was born, I'd often find him lulling our son to sleep with softly sung lullabies along with simple nursery rhymes set in song.  As Brandon grew we welcomed his sister, Adrienne into our home and the cycle of love continued on...  I loved hearing my guy sing and even today I can't help but smile when I watch old VHS video tapes (thankfully converted to DVD) of the two of us belting out the latest faith-based song.

Sometimes I miss those days and quite often feel amazed at the path our lives have taken since those exciting years of ministry.  My beloved sang many beautiful songs and old hymns, but none touched me more than a song called "Shepherd Boy".

It fit his voice and his testimony.

Simply put, the song is about King David in the Bible and how God used someone, seemingly with no kingly ability, to lead a nation...

David.  Son of Hannah.  Son of Jesse.  A Shepherd Boy.

~*~

  

As I struggled to find wellness this past year I spent a great deal of time asking God what it was He wanted me to do with the remainder of my days once I recovered.

I'm seeking His truth as I press onward with a grateful heart.

  I don't know what it is that God may be calling you to do with your life...    But just like me, daughter of Barbara, daughter of William, Creator of Things...

 I know it's something!

Love to you...

Rebecca

~FARMHOUSE SIGNS...Still Lovin' Them!~

Happy Monday, friends!
I hope you are having a wonderful day!

It is so pretty here in Oklahoma and I'm telling you I'm ready for sunshine! We had torrential rain late last week and all the green polleny junk fell from the trees.  It's everywhere! Also, since Friday it's been a bit gloomy outside and so I was excited to see a bright and clear blue sky this morning.

Little things like that make me so happy these days!

 Because I'm feeling better each day, certainly more like my old self, I decided to work on some new farmhouse style signs over the weekend.  My hubby still cuts most of the wood I use and I love it when he's able to fashion something from the old, reclaimed stuff!

Every once in a while we snag an old piece of furniture that is BEYOND restoring or transforming!  We save what we can (sometimes drawers and tops!) and the rest often become scrap!  The Flower Market sign at the top was made from just that sort of fabulously old and aged wood!

 This farmhouse sign with script was made using what was an existing sign (or artwork...not sure!).  It was found at a tag sale and made over into something suitable those who like farmhouse style decor!  It so popular now...but, I'm thinking you already know that.  All of the signs you see will be on my website later this week!

My friend, Carolyn, hired me to make a sign for her new booth at Serendipity Market in Edmond.  The Tarnished Cow sign above was made using an antique/vintage window.  I thought it came out so cool!

Have you ever thought about making a sign of your own?  I have several I've done for my own home and they aren't that hard to do!  I use a specialized technique, but there are tons out there to choose from.  The Graphics Fairy has a link that takes you to the ones that are the most popular!

No matter what you choose to do, be creative and have a blast.  After being cooped up for the better part of a year I've decided to try my best to live my life

TO THE FULLEST!

Love to you...

Rebecca

  

~THOUGHTS ON A SUNDAY MORNING...GRACE~

How do you manage your dark days?

I can tell you truthfully that during the past year I did a pretty crummy job of handling mine.  Most mornings I awoke feeling angry and bitter about my crumbling health and I lashed out at others when I was at my weakest...Most often towards my Mr. AGP Man as he became my verbal punching bag. 

My husband deserves the medal of valor or at the very least a blue ribbon for his kindness to me and for teaching me again that God will not allow anything to come upon us without also providing His love and grace to endure.

Life is sometimes so hard and if I'm being honest this past year has been one of the most challenging I have ever lived.  I've learned some pretty tough things about my sometimes UNLOVELY self~ But, mostly I've had a chance to experience both earthly and divine GRACE and in doing so it has radically changed the remainder of my days...

God is so merciful to us, isn't He?

When I was too discouraged to pray, too tired to sleep, too weak to work and too overwhelmed to care, God showed up.  He sent His grace to me in the form of loving, encouraging family and friends who helped work my days, massage neck, cook my food, drive me to appointments and then prayed for me when I couldn't pray for myself.

 I understand better that we give grace because we've been given grace. I hope in the future I'll do a better job of sharing it with others.

Love to you...

Rebecca

VINTAGE TWIN HEADBOARD MAKEOVER

While I was away recuperating my Mr. AGPMan and I were still able to a FEW makeover projects!   Doing any kind of painting was challenging for me and I worked very, very slow!

Mostly I just pointed and directed and bossed my guy around!

(I sorta love doing that sometimes!)

 Sometime back I purchased several pieces of antique furniture that included two twin beds (headboard and footboard)!  I actually had them for quite awhile before deciding just what to do with them.  I love signage, but I didn't want a bunch of permanent wording underneath the early resin motif (original to the furniture) that spanned the center front area.

As much as I love "signs" I don't want my entire house to be filled up with things someone has to read!

All the pieces I purchased were in rough shape and hailed from the very early 1900's.  So, that made the set at least 100 years old.  Some of the beaded accents were falling off and the original paint finish was coming off in lots and lots of places.

  I started off painting the headboards (one for me and one for my booth!) a tannish taupe color and followed that with black in random places!

 After the tan/black was completely dry I added several coats of white flat paint.  It was applied with a hash-stroke technique where you first paint diagonally one way and then the other way~ sorta like making "X's" before doing vertical and horizontal strokes.

 This painting technique is a bit slower than just painting an entire piece in one direction.

But...what fun would that be!?  

 

After all the paint was dry I applied dark wax (pretty much any brand will work, but I like Annie Sloan the best!) with a tiny brush into the cracks and crevices, buffing it out as I went.  The dark wax was followed by a coat or two of clear wax.  

A wood shelf was added by my Mr. AGPMan at the bottom edge where the legs used to be.  A large, thick piece of reclaimed wood (love the old original finish) was attached with brackets (from Hobby Lobby) to each side.  Finished it off with a bit of clear wax to the wood to brighten it up before hanging the piece on the wall (heavy-duty brackets were attached to the back).

Because I wanted to use this great old find in our largest bathroom, I added a sign to the top (easily removed) that simply says "Le Bain".  It was made from an old dresser-drawer front.  I love that you can see the original keyhole...

 The "Beauty" sign you see above hangs over the bathroom mirror.  I have plans to replace the mirror with something else...but right now I haven't found anything I really love.

The other cabinet you see is a newer piece purchased a Lowe's.  We desperately needed more storage in this bathroom and I couldn't find a vintage cabinet that worked.  I painted it with flat paint before gently distressing it!

At the frosted privacy window I hung a fabulous vintage tablecloth...it has the most beautiful white floral embroidery I've seen in a while.  One edge was turned down for a simple casing and tied up with a piece of tattered cloth and twine.

And there you have it!  Honestly...this was a pretty simple makeover that anyone could do if you can find the right piece!

Hope you loved visiting today.  Sure has been challenging getting my head back into blogging...but I'm going to do it if at all possible.

Big hugs and love to you~

Rebecca

THAT GIRL!

MR. AGP MAN & THAT GIRL (1977)

It is beyond my comprehension how forty years could have passed since this photo was taken.  I can still remember purchasing the outfit I was wearing...pale pink baby-wale corduroy wide-leg pants and a matching top that was made of light-weight terrycloth.  Both were purchased at LERNER'S.

(Remember that store?)

 Sometimes I wonder what happened to

THAT GIRL!

Love to you~

REBECCA 

GOOD FRIDAY BLESSINGS & AN OLD FRIEND

Hey Friends...

Blessings to you this Good Friday!  I hope your day is wonderful and your weekend is full of passion as we celebrate the beauty of Easter.

As I make my way back into Blogland I want to share with a few personal thoughts..

Me, Sarah (DIL) & Adrienne (Daughter)

I have loved my little blog for so long, but when my Mr. AGPMan was laid off from his longtime job at Xerox in July of 2013 and then the subsequent passing of my Father in February 2014, well, I guess I felt the wind had blown out of my sails.  My Dad was often the source of my writing inspiration and his death left a huge gaping hole in my life.  Even though I know he's still with me in spirit there was just something about the absence of his physical presence that made me feel very alone.

Ultimately, the financial pressure and chaos of losing both a job and a parent took it's tole. To help bridge the money-gap I opted to take on a part-time job at the market where I have my booth.  Once my guy returned to full-time work (about 9 months later!) I guess I'd just grown accustomed to working outside my home.  After nearly four years I'm still there.  Sometimes I feel like I abandoned something I greatly loved for a fist-full of dollars and months and months of wandering in the wilderness.

I can't really say specifically what lit my desire to return to blogging, but I'm quite sure the accident I was in last May has had a great deal to do with it.  It caused me to seriously reflect upon my life and some of the choices I've made.

Most have been good.

But, not all.

I guess I still have some life-lessons to learn!

Anyway... 

A few days ago while working at Serendipity, one of my long-time customers, Vickie (way back to e-bay days!), visited the store with her daughter.  I've had the pleasure of meeting several of my buyers this way and I'm thrilled to say so many of them have also become friends!  Here's a photo of the three of us!  It was such a JOY to meet the two of them in person...

Vickie, Me & Martha (her daughter)

Also...I hope to pass along some thoughts and MAYBE some inspiration as I've watched one of my children overcome obesity.  Never dreamed in a million years it would be a path my Mr. AGPMan and I would travel.  But, travel it we have. 

Of course...I still LOVE all things that are vintage...white...French...and gently loved.  Can't wait to show you more of what makes my heart sing.

Love to you...

Rebecca

BACK AT IT...WHATEVER THAT IS!

Dear Blogger Friends...

Today I'm going to tip-toe my way back into the Blog World.  Honestly--I kind of feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience here! I know how to do it, you know,BLOG, but when you haven't done it consistently in a long time it's easy to start out feeling a bit dazed and confused!

 MORNING OF SURGERY - March 6th

So...I'm going to at least TRY to make my way back to some of the things I love!  I'm hoping to reclaim some of what I feel I've lost over the past few years...

Last Monday marked five weeks since my spine/neck surgery.  I'm going to spare you the details of the entire process and only say I'm thankful that I'm growing stronger each and every day and grateful to be able to work towards finding normalcy again in my life.  I've greatly missed doing the things I love and I'm absolutely serious when I say I will never take my good health for granted again.  I feel humbled and blessed to even be able to type out these words...  God is good.  

That is all I can say~

Here's an update on a few other things...

MY BOOTH AT SERENDIPITY MARKET

I still have my A Gathering Place booth at Serendipity Market in Edmond, Oklahoma, and I am still moonlighting there a couple of days a week as well.  I pretty much let my website stay EMPTY after the car accident as I found I wasn't able to keep it stocked while trying to stay committed to those other two things anyway.

SWEET FRENCH CHEST

Last weekend was Serendipity's SPRING OPEN HOUSE and so I was busy working as much as possible on things to stock my booth.  I'm still healing up so I'm working very slow!  My Mr. AGPMan has been super busy as well.  He fashioned a couple of really neat things for me and I can't wait to show you.

I'm still loving all things vintage, antique, soft creamy white, farmhouse (as if!) and nearly everything else that is flirty, romantic, French, fun or previously loved....  Here is a picture of a suitcase I painted for a special bride-to-be.  Her Grandma contacted me a few months ago and I promised her I would TRY and make her dreams of soft pink roses come true!

HAND PAINTED PINK ROSES!

My little Miss Mollie, our precious Yorkie, is still hanging on.  We visited her Vet about three weeks ago and he found her to be spry and inquisitive and didn't feel she was ready to be put down.  The tumor in her tummy is huge (Vet believes the underlying cause is heart disease or liver failure) and we know it won't be long before we will be forced to say good-bye to her.  She is 14 years and 3 months old (about 74 or so in human years) and we've been BLESSED to have her for so many years.

 Me and Miss Mollie 

(Taken Today!)

She is still our baby girl and our hearts are breaking as the  day draws near.  We are praying for an quiet, gentle passing...but we won't let pain invade her tiny body so we watch closely for signs of discomfort.  Those of you who love animals understand our hurting hearts...  We just hate all this.  We've prayed and asked God to give us peace as we proceed ahead...but it is so hard~

Today I met a man at Lowe's who snapped this picture of us.  He is a photographer and said he'd be honored to do a portrait of her for us.  I'm telling you...God brings the most amazing people into my life when I least expect it.  Not sure what I will do yet...but the beautiful gesture from him made me smile.

  To those of you who sent me notes, cards and emails during the past few months, well, I can't thank you enough.  I'm looking forward to better days and getting back to sharing my passions and joys with you.

Bless you all!

Love to you~

Rebecca